Retard gauge construction



Sept. 2?, 1949.

RETARD GAUGE CONS TRUCTION Filed Sept. 20, 1946 A. D. ROSE 2,483,237

Patented Sept. 27, 1949 H ensue: s. 7 'YRETARD "GAUGE (IQNSTRIICTION Alexander 1). Rose, Park *Ria' e, 111., 'assigrnor ate 3 as. P. 'Marsh -Corporation, Ghiea'go, 5111., ia 001- porationiof Illinois iipp'li'ca t'ion September 20, jieite s iisl Noyii9828ii ,5 Claims. 1 l present invention relates to =gaug'es and special eefer-ease to retard gauges in which the inii icator mechanism moves freely to indicat'e pi essufe and Vacuum accurately within the manna-1 operating ran'ge of the gauge but is Tietarded in its ine-lament for indicating :pressure 'aih'cl vacuum ab'ov'e the operating range rto the maximum dial i' eadings. I

Emir-e 'panticula'rly" the .ipre'sent invention relates tb a compound ipres'sure and vacuum gauge retard movement and the 'a'tij-u'stin'g "means sthere for. -'-'Retartl 'gauges heretofore have been tliificu'lt of adjustment and "so arranged that adjustment of either the va'euumor pressure indicating retard means affected the adjustment of t-he other, thereby making accurate adjust- -m'eiit of the gauge exceedingly diffi'cult. v:Wi-th "*the present gauge both 1 the vacuum and pressure rtar'd means may be readily and 'independently -a1ijusted without in any way-affecting the other.

An object of this inventiohis tolprovide a1?!- tardigauge havingfsimpleefficient retard mechamis'm.

Another object is to provide a eompeund vacuum and pr'essure -indicating retard gauge in Whi'eh either the pressure 01" 'vacuum retard -m'eans' ma y be independently adjusted :without in any way afiecting the other;

Another object of this invention is to rprovide such a "compound retard gauge which -mayhe read-ily adjusted and when -adjusted Wills-remain fixed. 7

Further objects and advantages will ;-b e ap- -parent :from' the following 1 description and claims when considered together with the accompanydrawings in which: 1 V Fig. '1 is a front elevational view of a-reta11d eigauge embodying "features of this invention land having a dial graduated for'vacuumand pressure meadings; r

Fig. 2 is a rear-elevatiena1wiew of--the-\gauge shown in -Fig. 1 with -the-casing =removed;

Fig. 3 is I an enlarged front elevational view ef the opel ating lmechan-ismjof theggauge :Withthe s ren-t plateomitted;

. :F-ig.-4 is atopzvplan view of:theeg-auge operating mechanism;

' Fig. 5 is :an feievation'al View. of one end of 1 he operating nieclianism shownin l ig; 4;

gperatihg meh anism apposite ito that in i :5; s

Fig. 7 :is :a side enmemamew :of iibushing with :ia iretamspring ithereoni; Fig. 38 1's a :cros's-secitional miewitakenmllong thelline 8-48 -1of sFi-ige' 'z; and iEig. e Eis an elevational eview ofia use in the presentlimtention. R-eferrmg :m'one panticulamly fto Tthe .Idramiings tlrerezis shown a "retain gauge iemioodying Ethe zpreserit :invention. fi'Iheigauge sis of 00mp'ound type for indicating aboth epressure wacuum an'd comprises :a zc'asingilfl shaving? Fa :eover eon the front thereof ih'lii inipla'ee -by asst-im LEI secured to the Leasing 2E0 by :any su'itakile :means. :A i post .torifitting ikzaextends tthroughlian opening in ":the bottom -:of ;the casing :fl). iaScnews massing Ithrough the rear iDf ith'e ma'sing zand threaiiin'g into tapped openings 11:3 :providefi "thei'efor in ithe :post :secure themost =a-nd-"casi ng together. The zpost has "the usual ween-Hal ;passageway therein --communicating with iamapening :Mfinto which ione end act &a Bonrdnn @tu'be "I15 .zisesecure :.-inany :suitable, (manner socas to be imeommunieation'with the' central passageway-f the most cl 2. iAzpivota-lly mounted .lirik t6 =eohneets the free endiof the.Boundon tube Hi to theindicatingmechanism. v r The pressure and wacuum indicatingrmecha- =nism, including utherzretardmeans, may be :as-

sembled as a unit such as is illustrated inv Figs. @8 6. Thisueonstructionfmayjfcomprise:a pair of ipara'llel -frent andmeareplates ;I 1 and %l8,-secured together gin spaeedyrelation :by "columns 9 and a seeing I-he enu,=-portions bf-thecolumns whichzmay i be tubular and-:of reduced diameter shown. in

w Fig-ag -are passed through openings =provifded therefor aim-"the :plat-es and -the-iouter ends :are 'then fiared or expandedastshown in Fig. 2. :An

.: ;,=.-iniicatorshaft r2 l having a pinion 2-2 "thereon is rotatablymeunted in the -vp1ates H :and I18 with the-pinionZZ intermediatethe-two plates. O'ne :endmfqthe indieator shaft t2! pmjectsfthmugh .the iront-splate l1 :for.:receiving van indicating :=hand 2-3 tthereon. Theindicator-haniifitis powsitioned ever iandicooperates with the {indicating dial -M-secured to the:post l 2: by screw-$125. lilhe .anarlcing-s which may the aemployed 011 the -=dia1 willjwbe discussed hereinafter. 1

=Fig.' 6-'-is::an elevationaltview- Ofi-thBiBIlClCOf'thB -50. .:Rotetta'loly-ri:nounted. ibetweenethetplatesalalmnd I8 is an arbor 26 carrying a lever 21. One end of the lever is provided with an integral gear segment 28a for meshing with the pinion 22 and an integrally formed gooseneck arm 28 at the opposite end of the lever is connected to the link I8 and thereby to the pressure responsive Bourdon tube. The indicator shaft 2| is provided with the usual hair spring 29 secured thereto and to one of the columns l9 or 20. With the above construction changes in pressure cause movement of the free end of the Bourdon tube which is transmitted by the link l6 and lever 28 to the pinion 22, indicator shaft 2l, and hand 23-.

One type of dial which may be employed with a compound retard gauge embodying the present invention is shown in Fig. 1. This dial is for a gauge intended to be employed in connection with a relatively low pressure and vacuum system. The pressure is marked off in ounces and pounds up to pounds and. in one-half inches of vacuum, up to inches, operating range of the system with which the gauge is to be used.

To cover higher pressures and vacuums, the dial has markings ranging from 5 to 30 pounds 10 to 30 inches of vacuum, dial space equal to that of 1 pound of pressure and 2 inches of vacuum in the normal range. It is therefore essential to employ retard means or mechanism for retarding movement of the indicating mechanism beyond the normal operating range.

The retard means may comprise resilient members, such as relatively stiff spring wire members 30 and 3|. One end of the spring wire 30 is' preferably secured to a bushing 32 provided with a peripheral groove 33a for receiving it. With the wire in place the sides of the groove 330; are peened or clamped about the wire 30 to securely hold it on the bushing 32. The wire 3| is similarly secured to the bushing 33. The bushings 32 and 33 are mounted on the column 20 on each side of the enlarged central portion or collar 34 thereof. Between the outer side of each of the bushings and its adjacent plate l1 or ii! there is arranged a compression washer 35 for clamping the bushing between it and the central collar 34 with sufficient force to prevent unintended rotation of the bushings 32 and 33. A wrench or similar tool is required to rotate the bushings about the column 20. The free ends of the spring wires 30 and 3| are bent to form contact portions 36 and 31 substantially at right angles to the rest of the spring wires.

The bushings 32 and 33 are mounted on the column 20, as illustrated particularly in'Fig. 3, with the ends 36 and 31 positioned to be engaged by the sides of the lever 21 only when the lever 21 has been moved the full distance of the operating range of the gauge. In other words, the lever 21 is to engage the ends 36 and 31 of the spring wires when the lever 21 has moved a distance suificient to cause the indicator 23 to be opposite the points indicating 5 pounds of pressure or 10 inches of vacuum. Further movement of the lever 21 is against the resiliency of the spring wires 30 and 3|, and the movement of the indicator is retarded. The springs 30 and 3| are selected in accordance with the amount of retardation intended, stiffer wires being employed when it is desired to further retard the movement of the hand 23. While the resilient members for retarding the motion of the lever this being the normal 7 21 have been described as being spring wire members, they may be made of different materials or have other form and shape, it being only necessary that the resilient members retain their resiliency and have the requisite stiffness to retard the indicating operating mechanism the required amount.

Once the resilient members 33 and 3| have been properly adjusted there is little likelihood of the retard members getting out of adjustment. However, should this happen, each may be independently adjusted without in any way affecting the other merely by rotating its bushing with a suitable wrench.

The present invention may also be embodied in a single gauge such as a pressure gauge as well as in a compound gauge for indicating both pressure and vacuum.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of the present invention, it is manifest that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention and therefore I wish to be limited only by the prior art and the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a retard gauge having a pressure responsive element, a frame, an indicator shaft, and a transmission member mounted on said frame and movable in two directions by said pressure responsive element to actuate said indicator shaft, a retard construction comprising a column associated with said frame, a pair of separately mounted relatively stiff spring wire members adjustably fixed on said column independently of each other, the free ends of said wire members being positioned on different sides of said transmission member for being engaged thereby to retard movement thereof in either direction beyond a limited range.

2. In a retard gauge having a pressure responsive element, a frame, an indicator shaft, and a transmission member mounted on said frame and movable in two directions by said pressure responsive element to actuate said indicator shaft, a retard construction comprising a column associated with said frame, a pair of bushings adjustably fixed on said column, a pair of relatively stiff spring wire members secured to said bushings and having the free ends thereof positioned on different sides of said transmission member for being engaged thereby to retard movement thereof in either direction beyond a limited range.

3. In a retard gauge having a pressure responsive element, a frame, an indicator shaft, and a transmission member mounted on said frame and movable in two directions by said pressure responsive element to actuate said indicator shaft, a retard construction comprising a column associated with said frame, a bushing adjustably fixed on said column, a relatively stifi spring wire member secured to said bushing and having a free end thereof positioned on one side of said transmission member for being engaged thereby to retard movement thereof in one direction beyond a limited range.

4. In a retard gauge having a pressure-responsive element, a frame, an indicator shaft, and a transmission member mounted on said frame and movable in two directions by said pressureresponsive element to actuate said indicator shaft, a retard construction comprising a column associated with said frame, a pair of supporting members movably fixed on said column for independent adjustment, and a pair of elongated relatively-stiff resilient members secured to said supporting members and having portions thereof positioned on different sides of said transmission member for being engaged thereby to retard movement thereof in either direction beyond a limited range.

5. In a retard gauge having a pressure-responsive element, a frame, an indicator shaft, and a transmission member mounted on said frame and movable in two directions by said pressureresponsive element to actuate said indicator shaft, a retard construction comprising a column associated with said frame, a supporting member adjustably fixed on said column, an elongated relatively-stiif resilient cured to said supporting member and having a free end thereof positioned on one side of said member se- ALEXANDER D. ROSE. REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

